Out of Overwhelm: How to Stay Sane During Your Design Project

Did you know that to build the average custom home, there were over 3,000 separate decisions that had to be made? Yikes! Even if you’ve done your research, hired a great team, and done this before, remodeling or building a new house can be extremely stressful. Here are some pointers from a design professional who has been through the process countless times on how to avoid overwhelm.

Be The Boss

Firstly, always remember that this is your project, your house, and that these people work for you. Especially if you’re a woman in charge of a bunch of men, in construction, it can be a little intimidating. Don’t let it. You’re the one paying the bills. You are in charge. Act like it. Now, your builder or architect may be running the meeting, for example, but you’re still the decision-maker. Don’t let anyone push you around.

But how can you, when you don’t understand what they’re talking about? This is when you lean on your design professional. They are your advocate. They should be keeping you up to speed. Educating you, if you will, on just what you need to know. Not every technicality you do need to know! That can overwhelm you. So skip that stuff and focus on the beef.

Trust Your Designer

Imagine this scenario: you’re standing in your kitchen/bath/house which is under construction. Suddenly a painter pulls you aside and tells you that he thinks the paint color for the walls is too dark. Panic sets in. Maybe he’s right! After all, he’s a paint professional. But this decision was finalized months ago! What should I do?

This happens on every jobsite, in every project. Everyone’s a critic. Everyone has an opinion. And their (unsolicited) advice only confuses you. What you need to do is ignore them. Your design professional has already made the selection based on many factors that the painter, in this case, may not know. If you listen to every opinion of every tradesman on your project, you’ll go nuts. So leave the designing to the designer.

Planner, Please

You will accumulate a ton of papers, swatches, brochures and pictures so start a binder or planner with plenty of tabs and pockets. This will keep everything in one place, nice and neat. You’ll no doubt also want a Dropbox or other way to save things digitally too. Bring your planner to every meeting, site visit, showroom, etc. Go through it often and review decisions to keep them fresh in your mind. I like to have a place for each party’s contact information, a section for taking notes, and tabs for each room. A 2 inch 3-ring binder works well. Note: keep inspiration pics to a minimum as too many can easily overwhelm.

Good Advice

• Get on the same page as your hubby with budget and other factors before you even start the project
• Talk to friends who have been through similar projects
• Don’t micromanage
• Don’t set arbitrary deadlines
• Do disclose your real, actual budget to your designer and builder
• Always always do a budget before you start, even if money is no object
• Have weekly site meetings once construction begins
• Don’t be too nitpicky. Let it go
• Mistakes happen
• Remember, it’s going to look and feel fabulous!

As always, I’m here to help. Whether it’s remodeling your bathroom or building your dream house, your project doesn’t have to overwhelm you. It can even be fun. Contact me and let’s get started!

Until next time,